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The latest pieces from MENASource:


MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

A geography of protest: Inside the rise of Iran’s minority factor

By
Mohammed A. Salih

From the death of Mahsa Jina Amini to the Twelve Day War, the ethnic question has emerged as a significant dimension of Iran’s politics.

Civil Society
Iran


MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

Iran’s minorities and policy complexity: A look at two communities

By
David Sklar

Iran plays a significant role in Middle Eastern geopolitics. Policymakers should develop a sober, accurate mapping of its population.

Civil Society
Iran


MENASource

Sep 19, 2025

How Israel’s strike on Doha is forcing a Gulf security reckoning

By
Giorgio Cafiero

The Gulf monarchies have displayed strong unity at a time when rethinking twenty-first-century Gulf security is no longer optional.

Israel
Middle East

READ More from MENASOURCE

Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, the Atlantic Council works with allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

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Content

Inflection Points

Oct 13, 2018

Saudi silence on Khashoggi must end

By Frederick Kempe

I count myself as one of those who had been captivated by the possibility of change and the compelling MBS personality. What impressed me was his focus, energy and vision, laid out over three lengthy meetings in Riyadh and Washington, of how his country had gone wrong and what he would do to modernize it with next-generation support.

Saudi Arabia

IranSource

Oct 12, 2018

Iranian Crackdown on Corruption May Only Be Superficial

By Holly Dagres

Since the 1979 revolution, Azadi Square has been the beating heart for major demonstrations in Iran’s capital. So when the Iranian judiciary announced on September 24 that “financial corruptors” would be hung in the square—a first—it was seen as a dire warning to corrupt traders and government officials that they would be made an example of for […]

Iran

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

Hellyer in Slate: The World Needs to Take the Safety of People Like Jamal Khashoggi More Seriously

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

Greenwald in Belfer Center: The New Race for Contemporary Arts Dominance in the Middle East

By Michael Greenwald

Read the full article here.

Middle East

IranSource

Oct 11, 2018

Iran Can’t Fulfill Its Hopes of a Shia Corridor Without Iraq

By Avi Melamed

Since the Iranian regime seized power in 1979, its goal has been for Iran to become a regional power and to restore the Shias as the rulers of the Muslim world. A cornerstone of its strategy is to build and control a land corridor stretching from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. To extend its power […]

Iran Iraq

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

Wechsler Quoted in Axios on Jamal Khashoggi Case

By William F. Wechsler

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

LeBaron Quoted in Bloomberg on Jamal Khashoggi

By Richard LeBaron

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

Hellyer Quoted in Washington Post on Jamal Khashoggi’s Disappearance

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

SyriaSource

Oct 10, 2018

Discontent among Assyrians in Syria’s northeast

By Ammar Hammou and Madeline Edwards for Syria Direct

Prominent Assyrian Christian writer and dissident Souleman Yusph was in his home in northeastern Syria’s Qamishli last Sunday night when local security personnel reportedly burst in, arrested him, and carried off his laptop and cell phones with them. By the following Thursday night, sixty-one year old Yusph—a vocal critic of the majority-Kurdish Self-Administration that controls the vast majority of […]

Syria

In the News

Oct 10, 2018

Hellyer Quoted in The Guardian on Jamal Khashoggi

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia
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Experts

Fellow

Elizabeth Shortino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoEconomics Center

Economy & Business Inclusive Growth

Fellow

Christopher Aw

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economy & Business Intelligence

Millennium fellow

Alexandra Hubbard-Gourlay

Senior Director, Laurel Strategies

Millennium Leadership Program

Economy & Business Media

Staff

Kate Springs

Program Assistant, Strategic Litigation Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Human Rights International Norms

Fellow

Afaq Hussain

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Millennium fellow

Bushra Shammout

Head of Energy Security Winter Preparedness Strategy and Ministerial Briefing, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero

Millennium Leadership Program

Europe & Eurasia Geopolitics & Energy Security
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